The casualty figures given are about 4,395 allied dead, 2,541 wounded, and up to 8,000 captured, against 458 British dead and 1,208 wounded. The allied death toll was particularly severe. Keeping Calder's flagship and Louis's squadron would have raised the British force to thirty-three ships. In that counterfactual, the extra ships and flag officers could have supported a third column directed at the allied van. The proposed result is fewer British casualties and an even heavier allied defeat, rather than a claim that the same battle would simply have occurred with more ships.
Notable Point · 3:34:51-3:37:26
The casualty gap behind the victory
Compare the human losses and consider how detached British ships increased the burden on the force that fought.